We're Going to be Friends
by fauxreal
Summary: Music was the only thing Sasuke had left. He'd never wanted anything more than to be in a successful band, and to hear the echo of a crowd singing along to words he'd written. He has the talent, the band, and the willpower. The only thing missing is a drummer. But when one seems to fall from the sky on a silver platter, he ends up to be a little... more than Sasuke bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! I'm not sure how introductions go on this website, I've been a bit too busy to write any fics for the past year or so. (Yes, I'm trying to hint that I've written fics before, but they are so terribly written to the point that I had to make a new account because I'm so embarrassed.) But anyways, my name is Lucy, and I'm starting a new fic that is- to most people's dismay- written in first person. Please humor me and give it a chance. _**  
**_

Summary: Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru are in a band. Not just any band, a band that has three singles in the top ten chart even in America, when all four live in Japan.A band that has fans in countries none of the boys had ever even heard of. Things are going perfectly, should they not? One problem. The lead singer is falling sickeningly, horribly, and completely in love with another member of the band.

And the terrible game of love begins.

* * *

_**1**_

Antisocial.

Antisocial is what they call it when you prefer to be alone, rather than surrounded by loud, bothersome, vexatious people at all times throughout the day.

I call it smart.

The heat of July is beginning to fade into an August haze. It's dark other than street lamps deranged in the horizon, accompanied by a car every once and a while. I hear crickets chirping.

I come here when my head gets too heavy, and when my thoughts need sorting.

People these days often forget to do things like this. Before they know it, none of their thoughts are sorted and they end up homeless, or depressed, or suicidal. They lose themselves to empty thoughts.

I have these thoughts sometimes. And that's when I come here. To remind myself thinking that way won't change things. And it unquestionably won't help things.

Mount Sankaku is a very quiet place. Particularly at night.

I hear a group of kids getting out of a late night movie; giggling and screaming impersonations of the actors. It's getting prominently late.

On most occasions, I prefer to be my own company.

And I can't comprehend why some professor somewhere thought it was his place to push his glasses up his nose and deem everyone and everything like me to be "antisocial." Enjoying silence and peace every now and then is now an illness.

I sit on the edge of a grassy cliff, overlooking the town of Hokkaido. My calloused fingers feel rough against the smooth grass.

Callouses are what happens when you discover you want to be in a deep and emotional relationship with an instrument. In my case, bass. It wasn't always like that, though.

At one point in my life, I dreamt of running the family business; Uchiha Corp- Japan's Top Real Estate Company. I told myself I would eventually become the supreme Uchiha. My family would have been very proud, happy even. My father once gave me a book entitled _How to Succeed in Business and Life_ for my sixth birthday.

My sixth birthday.

Around that time is when I realized that running the family company is something I would rather die than do. I was very confused and angry with myself. I was facing my decisions for the future where as other boys my age were deciding which backpack they liked best: the one with ninjas, or the one with pirates. The universal question, I guess.

I sat down one day and told myself I didn't want to head the company. I didn't want to work in the company. I never wanted to step foot into an Uchiha Corp. office building, in fact. I decided to find something I wanted to do.

And long story short, I found music.

Music was the one thing that never let me down, that never burned me when I reached out to it.

Suddenly nothing else mattered. Nothing.

It was an escape.

I loved it more than anything.

And eventually, I met people who shared that same passion.

We had some kind of _bond _or something before we even got to know each other. We all just _got_ it.

They weren't shocked to hear I wanted to tour the world when I grew up instead waste away at some office job, that I spent 5 hours a day practicing the same rhythm until my fingers bled, that I was willing to give up anything just for a chance in the music industry.

That I lived in some shitty basement eating cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because my parents kicked me out of the house.

But that doesn't even matter when you're playing music.

It's just you, and your instrument.

It's the emotion pouring out through your fingers, the raw feeling floating through the air with every note, the beats and the chords and the melodies and just the fucking _song_.

I finally found people that understood that.

And we decided to form a band.

It was everything I wanted.

And it tore me apart.

**Ten years ago.**

* * *

_March 20th, 2002._

* * *

_Agateophobia. _

_Fear of insanity._

"Man, people have gotten so lazy these days they had to create a machine that works out for you. In-fucking-sane. Wonder if that shit works, though," Suigetsu is all.

"You should try it out. You could stand to lose a few pounds," Karin is all.

Suigetsu glowers at her, "Yeah and maybe when I'm done using it on my _perfectly toned_ body,_ you _should try it. Since you're the only one here who actually needs it."

_Chronophobia. _

_Fear of time._

Karin grits her teeth at him before reaching for the nearest object, a remote, and moves to chuck it at him.

Jugo is all, "Would you two knock it off? I'm trying to watch."

The opening theme song to_ Survivor _rings throughout the small, unkept basement.

_Geniophobia._

_Fear of chins._

"Taku, who even watches this stupid show anymore. I thought it was canceled-"

_"Shut up!" _Jugo shouts at him, taking the remote from Karin and throwing it at the white-haired boy's head.

"Ow! Jerk..."

We're sitting in the basement of my friend Suigetsu's house as an ad about some device called "Weight Crunchers" informs us that working out takes up valuable time and energy.

These are my friends I have known since elementary. Karin, a ferocious, high-maintenance, red-head who's been "secretly" in love with me since the day we met.

Next there is Jugo, who people often mistake as our body-guard. Poor boy must be over 6 feet, has muscles growing on his _muscles,_ and is the strongest one on the school wrestling team. He might as well be the _only _one on the wrestling team.

Last, least, there's Suigetsu.

Suigetsu has unnaturally white hair, unnaturally purple eyes, and unnaturally pointed teeth.

We've been friends since the diaper days, so I've been told. I've been shown a few photos to "prove our friendship began as soon as our lives did," but in each one I'm making the same face- a scowl and a twitch to the eye- at the white-haired boy.

("I don't know, to me, it kind of looks like I hate you as much as I do now.")

("Oh shut up, that's just the way your face looks! You loved me! Trust me, I remember.")

Suigetsu was -and is- an asshole. He's slept with three out of every four girls at our school, and one out of every four boys. (He "_prefers women, but you've gotta mix it up every once in a while_.")

He's made every teacher he's ever had cry at at least one point during the school year, each time he'd miraculously not gotten suspended. He organized every senior prank, even though this was his first year as a senior, he'd ruined every dance and banquet in some form or another, and vandalized ninety percent of the campus over the four years of attending the public school.

To keep it simple, he was a top notch douche bag.

And then, there's also me. I like music and not much else.

_Heliophobia-_

"Neh, should we order pizza or something? Fucking hungry." Suigetsu mutters against the carpet from where he's laying on the floor.

"You should eat more healthy to keep up that _perfectly toned_ body, right?" Karin is all, smirking slightly. Purple eye boy just ignores her and dials the number to Pizza Hut that he's memorized by heart.

"Get half anchovy." Jugo grumbles, and Karin groans in disgust.

_-Fear of the sun._

"Whatever, what do you want Sasu-kun?" Suigetsu asks me.

I'm looking through the phobia section in the Oxford Dictionary I got for Christmas one year. I wonder how the people who wrote this dictionary found these definitions. If they got together in a little group and said, "Alright, gang! Let's go find some freaks!"

Freak. I hate the word.

I quickly scan my eyes over the F section.

_Freak- A person who reacts or behaves in a wild and irrational way, typically because of the effects of extreme emotion, mental illness, or drugs._

"Fucking- the only man I know that legitimately _reads _dictionaries. I'm getting you cheese, fuck."

Suigetsu loves to swear. He's rubbed off on me; all of us; anyone blessed with the chance of getting to meet him and converse with him for over five minutes.

"Sasuke," Karin snaps me out of my trance, "I was wondering how it went with that one drummer guy you were telling me about. How'd that go?"

She asks, mustering up as much enthusiasm on the topic as she possibly can. Karin sometimes pretends to be interested in music to get on my good side.

I open my mouth for the first time all evening without lifting my eyes from the _Page of Phobias_, "Awful. He wasn't into it at all, couldn't keep in time, couldn't read a note of sheet music, the dumb ass had no idea what he was doing whatsoever. A complete waste of time."

I decide to say "dumb ass" instead of "brainless, uncultured swine" like I had intended, remembering all of the current inhabitants of the room have an intelligence quotient of about 1.5.

Karin just laughs, "Geez, it's like impossible for you to find a good drummer. Have you tried looking online?"

"I've made posts on every website ever created looking for a drummer in the area. They are all either in a band already, live too far, don't like our genre, or suck. It's getting annoying."

Once again I decide to use "annoying" instead of "redundant."

"Why don't you just record drums yourself for some demos? You aren't that bad at drums." She suggests as Suigetsu comes down the stairs- both of us looking over and just realizing he'd left to get the pizza. He just glares at us with a look that says "glad you missed me, assholes."

I ignore him, "I've considered it, I mean I can keep a beat or whatever but I don't want it to sound like somebody who's just _'keeping a beat,'_ I want it to sound like a drummer."

She nods. She's making an unsure face, a mix between disgust, possibility, and a hint of embarrassment.

"Well… I have this one neighbor who- he's a drummer..."

_Karin._

"Don't look at me like that! Obviously there's a reason I haven't mentioned him before! The guy is annoying as shit, loud, extremely obnoxious. He's teepeed my house several times-"

"Does anybody want the fucking pizza I just spent like 12 bucks on-"

"Shut up I'm trying to_ watch_-"

"Is he a good drummer?" I ask.

Karin looks angry, but rolls her eyes and drops it.

"Yes. He's amazing at drumming. But besides that, he's the most stupid, irritating, idiotic-"

"God, did this kid dump you or something?" Suigetsu says in-between a bite of pizza with a smirk on his lips. He's very pale.

"W-What?! No! Of course not, that's the dumbest-" Karin is also very pale.

"Sounds like a yes to me," Suigetsu says in a sing-song voice, raising his eyebrows in a way that makes Karin flush.

"Oh shut up! I've never dated him, nor would I ever want to! He's even more annoying than you are, believe it or not." She crosses her arms and looks away. She always crosses her arms and looks away when she's mad.

The red-head continues to go on and on about the guy. "Annoying" she calls him for the upteenth time. She tells a story of when he was "Eleven… Twelve… Nine… oh who the fuck cares he was just a little shit but anyway-" and there was a fire engine parked in front of an old woman's house. A few neighbors gathered around, one being him, one being Karin.

"This is bad," the kid had said.

Karin decided to talk to him- which had apparently turned out to be a ''horrible, stupid mistake''- because she had assumed he was talking about the fact there might have been an emergency.

"I know, I hope nothing bad happened to her."

He'd just given her a funny look and said, "Yeah, I mean that too, but the fire truck is blocking the bus stop which I wanted to take to Panda Express because they close in a few minutes and I'm freakin' hungry."

Jugo snorts and Suigetsu spits his soda clear across the goddamn room. So far Karin is right. He sounds like a complete moron. But at this point, I'd be willing to let a fucking giraffe be our drummer.

"I want to meet him," I say over Suigetsu's shrieks of laughter.

She looks at me, surprised.

"Really? Well… the reason I kind of brought it up is because I heard that he-… Look, you should just forget it. Seriously Sasuke, he's so annoying, you won't care how good he is at drumming."

Jugo shushes all of us, and I feel bad for him. Poor guy just wants to watch _Survivor_.

"You heard that he what? You can't just start a sentence like that and then not tell us." Suigetsu complains, a string of cheese hanging off of his face. Gross.

"It doesn't matter, in fact, it's just a rumor that probably isn't even true. I was just telling Sasuke to warn him not to let Naruto join the band." Karin shoves her purple glasses up her nose. I never understood why she didn't just get contacts, glasses seem so bothersome.

"Haha! His name is fishcake? You're kidding!" Suigetsu explodes into more giggles over something that isn't even that funny like usual. My eyes return to my dictionary- my _dictionary_- which is even more interesting than the people who surround me.

_Ideophobia._

_Fear of ideas._

_Isolophobia._

_Fear of solitude._

_Ithyphallophobia._

_Fear of thinking about or having an erect penis._

I imagine the poor soul who'd managed to get stuck with that one.

"Sasuke! For fucks sake, the pizza is getting cold."

I do this stupid sputtering thing I do whenever someone startles me, and then I grab myself a slice, which will probably end up being the only slice I get judging by how fast Jugo is eating. It's cheese. I don't like cheese so I take it off. I scan the phobia page for fear of cheese, which is something I might have.

_Turophobia. _

_Fear of cheese._

_"Men… it appears I have….__** it.**__"_

_"What, captain?! What do you have?"_

_**"Turophobia."**_

_"No! It can't be…"_

_"It's true, mates. It was nice knowing you."_

_"Captain, you can't go! You- you can't have turophobia! It can't be true! Please, captain-"_

_"I know it's hard to believe. I was in shock at first myself. But I just… I have this- this __**thing.**__ This __**monster**__ is inside of me. I have to get out now before it's too late, but lad, I want you to know that I, I-"_

_"Captain, I-"_

"Fear of cheese?" Suigetsu questions from behind me.

I scared-sputter again and slam the book closed.

"Bitch-" I hiss at him and push him away from me. He giggles because that's all Suigetsu ever does- giggles.

Karin is starting to put her shoes and sweater back on and Jugo stretches from where he's been sitting on the floor.

"I better get home," she murmurs lazily and cracks her back in a way that can't be healthy as she stands up. She attempts at lifting Jugo off the floor, who doesn't even remotely budge. Suigetsu bursts into another giggle fit.

"Jugo get the hell up. I still have to drop you off and your dumb show is over!" She grunts and gives up, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"Fine, whatever, just wait till I have my own car you freaking…" The rest of his sentence is inaudible and Suigetsu is still giggling like mad.

"Oh shut the fuck up both of you, I have to go."

They leave eventually, Karin stomping up the wooden steps to the house as Jugo grumbles behind her. Suigetsu and I are left alone to watch some Korean soap opera. The small, electric clock nailed to the gray walls of the basement reads 6:57. It's quiet.

"Hey, Sasuke?" He says in a small voice after a few minutes.

"Hn."

"You're real serious with the whole band thing, right? You're not going to suddenly want to go do something else, or get bored with it or-"

"No. I'm serious."

He's quiet for too long and I look over.

He's grinning to himself.

"Good."

I shut my dictionary.

"You're not gonna ditch me, are you?"

Suigetsu looks over at me and I frown. I don't like how genuinely concerned he looks.

"What do you mean by that?"

He huffs and sits up suddenly, crossing his legs and leaning back on his arms.

"Well, I mean when we're older and stuff, when you're all famous. Which if you really put your mind to it, I have no doubt in my mind you'll get there. You're like, _good_. I honestly don't know if you realize how much potential you have sometimes, like when you practice in the band room at school, there's always a huge ass crowd standing outside the door listening. And sometimes you aren't even playing legit songs, you're just like fucking around and there's still people listening."

"Stop ranting."

"Whatever, sorry, it's just, you know in all those movies when people get really big for some reason, like if they sing or dance or whatever, and they suddenly just forget about their best friend and it's really sad and everybody in the audience cries and secretly hates the main character because he doesn't even notice-"

"What the hell are you even trying to get across?"

"Sorry, sorry, I guess I just mean… No matter what happens, we'll stay close, right?"

"Yeah, I'll probably need someone to scare off the rabid fans."

He snorts, "always have to add in your two cents of asshole, don't you?"

"Hn."

"_HHHNNN_**,**" He attempts to mock me in a highly unattractive voice and falls onto his back. It's not long until his slow breathing turns to soft snores, despite the fact he is currently residing on the cold, hard floor of the basement.

I turn on my side and fold my knees to my chest, pulling a blanket up to my chin. It's always cold in the basement no matter what time of year it is.

It's times like these I wish I had a real home.

But this is okay.

I close my eyes and try to sleep but my brain decides I apparently don't need it.

I hear Suigetsu's mother come in through the front door and start looking through the refrigerator after throwing her purse on the dinner table. It's a pattern she fell into after every day of work. What a terrible life. It almost left a flavor of distaste in my mouth how much I despise the life most people are expected to live. "Normal" people are fucking crazy.

I turn onto my back and cross my hands behind my head. The cracks in the ceiling are all the same.

I want to find a best friend some day.

I like Suigetsu, I really do, but he doesn't understand me as much as he thinks he does. He's just like everyone else. He cares about music, or at least pretends to to humor me, but he doesn't depend on it the way I do. I guess that's kind of selfish of me to have such high expectations of my friends, but I can't help it. Music is the only reason I don't consider blasting a hole through my forehead at this point, naturally I'd connect more with people who can even somewhat understand that. Maybe I just think too much about things.

Somehow I end up asleep.

* * *

A disgusting tone of death rings throughout the basement, bouncing off the cold walls and glaring into my brain.

_Monday._

No wonder the basement seems to be even colder than usual.

I shudder and squeeze in on myself before stretching, my toes arching off the couch. My back is sore like usual.

A piece of hair had somehow managed to attach itself to my cheek while I was asleep.

I yawn and glare at the alarm clock, which is still screaming at me even though I am obviously awake. I smash it with my fist, and it turns off- or breaks, I don't really care so long as it isn't still going off. Suigetsu is already gone. He usually wakes up a few minutes earlier than me to escape my "morning wrath."

I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth with my batman toothbrush that is completely not childish, and try to fix my hair situation. It sticks out in a stupid way no matter what I do to it. I growl at my reflection before washing my face and putting on a clean shirt. I can't tell if it's mine or Suigetsu's, but I don't care at the moment.

I trudge up the steps that lead from the basement to the kitchen, and find Suigetsu eating a pop-tart.

"Morning, princess," he deadpans with a slight smirk. I flip him off and fall into the chair next to him, my legs slumping in front of me.

"I hate Mondays." It may just be déjà vu, but I feel as though I've been in this same exact situation at least a hundred times before. His weird, grey hair bobs up and down in agreement.

He takes me to school after arguing for ten minutes over which pop tart flavor is best (strawberry) in his dad's corolla. The weather seems a bit off for almost being Summer. It's windy and everything looks frosted over. It almost looks pretty, but knowing I'd actually have to step out into the cold wearing nothing but a t-shirt and jeans makes it lose the appeal. Dumb weather report is always wrong.

"Shit! I forgot I have Chemistry today and I didn't finish that stupid project…" Suigetsu breaks the comfortable silence around us and bangs his head against the steering wheel. I tell him when the light turns green and he curses.

"I asked you last night if you finished your homework, but you ignored me and invited everyone over anyways."

I flip open my cheap, black phone and glance at the time. Still fifteen minutes until the bell rings.

"I thought I could do it while they were there but they distracted me. It's not _my_ fault _they_ distracted me."

He mutters something about Karin being stupid before pulling into Konoha High School's parking lot. The big, neon sign that broadcasts the school's events and achievements has something about a dance recital glaring across the screen. I guess that means the band room will be taken after school. I frown.

As soon as we finally find a parking spot close enough to the school to Suigetsu's liking, he rushes out of the car and starts to speed walk towards the hallway Karin is always at in the mornings. He half turns to wave at me, "I'll see you at lunch, but I have to copy the rest of that project. Later!"

I decide to spend the last few minutes until school starts in the band room. Ms. Mitarashi, or as I'm allowed to call her because of my natural charm and wit, Anko, is getting coffee in the teacher's lounge. I pick up an acoustic guitar from the instrument closet and start trying to tune it. I strum an F major and sit on the music teacher's desk. I start to lazily play the chorus of "Eleanor Rigby" and my eyes close and my head falls against the body of the guitar. The voices of kids flooding into the school fade away. I speak English well enough to sing along to the words, but it doesn't seem right to interrupt the guitar right now. The emptiness of the room causes each string to echo after I pluck, and it sounds beautiful. I don't notice the small yet noticeable crowd around the door to the band room until it barges open. I pause momentarily and frown at the interruption.

There's some boy.

He crosses into my territory and the crowd disperses behind him to start heading to class. I realize I should probably start to do the same, but I can't bring my body to move.

He's blond and tall, and has on an ugly orange sweater. I've never seen him before. His blue eyes are bright with excitement, and I open my mouth to question him when he cuts me off.

"We're going to be friends."

My mouth freezes and I hesitate.

Well.

He's smiling like some moron, but it's almost contagious. _Almost_.

He holds out a hand to me which I hesitantly take.

"I'm Naruto."


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

This is certainly not how my morning should be going.

I should be sitting in Chemistry doing a lab right now.

Instead, I'm ditching school for the first time in my life, at an arcade that holds absolutely no interest to me at all, with a boy I know close to nothing about.

And for some twisted reason, I'm not flipping my shit yet. At least not in this moment.

"Tell me again why you dragged me here?" I ask him as he takes a seat in front of Crazy Taxi, slipping in two quarters he pulled from his pocket.

"I told you already, if we're gonna be friends, we ought to get to know each other, right?" Naruto says like it's the most understandable concept in the world.

I raise my voice a bit so he can hear me over the yelling group of boys who decide now is the perfect time to stand around Crazy Taxi doing nothing, "Most people get to know each other _and then_ become friends, not the other way around, moron."

Naruto ignores me and chooses a character- some guy with green hair. My patience is going to start boiling over if he doesn't give me some answers soon. I notice the strain of his muscles as he takes hold of the steering wheel and wonder if he plays sports, which leads me to wonder why some jock would want anything to do with me. I detest sports. People shouldn't run unless they're being chased.

Naruto bangs his fist against the arcade machine, "Fuck! I can never drop off more than five people for some reason. Wait! No- that's a lie, this one time- when the like, fucking Crazy Taxi _gods _blessed their power upon me or something, I dropped off _twelve people_. Isn't that_ crazy_? That pun was intended, by the way."

I snort, "_Besides_ the game that's meant for twelve year olds, are you even listening to me? I skipped school for the first time just to-"

He suddenly spins around and startles me to the point where I jump back and bump into some girl.

"Sorry-" I try to excuse myself but Naruto- suddenly standing and a fucking inch from my face- starts shaking my shoulders.

"You're kidding me, right? You have to be joking. You've _never_ ditched school?" The boy looks as if his life depends on my answer. I shake my head numbly.

Naruto steps back and brings a hand to rest over his chest. He looks almost offended.

"Christ… You poor, poor kid…" He takes my hands in his and yanks me forward a bit, "Today, I've decided I'm going to make up for all the days you should have skipped school. Starting here. Please sit."

He says it as though I have the option to sit or not, but shoves me into the seat anyways. I grumble and and slump into my chair.

This is absolute bullshit. I don't want to be in this stupid arcade. I don't want this dumb moron to keep telling me what to do. I don't want to play this_ stupid_ game.

This is turning out to be a terrible day.

* * *

Fuck. I can't stop playing. It's been an hour and I can't stop playing.

"Sasuke, if we don't leave soon we won't have time to do anything else you're 'spose to do when you're playing hooky. We've already been here for two hours and I'm almost out of quarters."

Okay. Two hours. What's really the difference though, when I can't ever drop off more than six people every _fucking_ time? I jam the steering wheel to the right to avoid a car. Seven seconds left. I can do it. I just need to drop off two more people. I can do it. I run into a building. I can't do it.

"Shit! More quarters!"

"Sasuke," Naruto chuckles, "I know this game can be addictive, but I've got other fun stuff on the list. Come on, buddy."

"No!" I grab at the machine as he attempts to pull me away, "Let go, I'm not done-"

"I know, I know," he sounds like he's trying to calm down some baby, which pisses me off even more.

"Shut up, you moron!" I blink when I finally snap out of it. In order to avoid the embarrassment that's currently heating up my face, I turn the focus on him, "Why are you even doing this anyways! You never answered my question."

He ignores me at first. When we step outside the arcade, Naruto pulls out his keys and pushes at them until we hear his black toyota beep.

"I knew you were going to be my friend when I first heard you play that song this morning," he says as he pulls the passenger door open for me.

I frown a bit, "What are we, on a fucking date?"

"You wish, sweetheart," Naruto smirks.

My eye twitches.

He shuts the door behind me once I settle, and gets in on his side.

I remember what we were talking about before Naruto started acting like a dumb ass, "So you liked my guitar playing, that's great. But what kind of idiot just goes and ditches school with someone they don't know."

"An idiot like you," he gives me that _smirk_ again as we pull onto the main road, and I grimace. I'd punch that goddamn smirk right off his face if it didn't risk him killing me in a car accident.

"But to answer your question," Naruto starts, "I'm new to Konoha. I just enrolled last Friday, today was supposed to be my first day."

"Tch, ditching on your first day? Way to make a good impression, idiot."

"Stop interrupting me, Uchiha. Isn't Konoha supposed to be all prestigious and shit? You'd think the students would have some manners..."

"And skipping school before you've ever even shown up to one class? You call that having manners?"

He ignores that last part.

"As I was saying, I'm a new student. Ever since I was told I was to attend Konoha, I've been pissed. I've gone to Hibiki all my life, so of course I'd want to stay there. But the old man thinks I needed change, or whatever, so I had to transfer. Other than not having any friends, I was pissed mainly because the music department at Konoha is just _sad_. At my school, they have single classes for just about any instrument, and also band, and orchestra, and choir, et caetera, et caetera. The only music class you guys haven't cut yet is band."

I look out the window. The buildings and shops of the city are slowly turning to trees and dirt and nothingness.

"Where the hell are you taking me, dobe?"

I see him try to suppress a lop-sided smile.

"Patience, Uchiha. Now can you stop bugging me so I can finish the friggen story? Where was I- ah yes, see, this morning changed up the whole game plan. I'd shown up today thinking- wow, this is going to completely suck, if there's hardly any music classes, there's probably hardly anyone who cares about music in the first place. I decided to go to the _one_ music room in the whole_ fucking _school to see what I had to work with. As soon as I walked into the hallway, I heard you playing that song by The Beatles, and I nearly friggen cried because I was so happy. I decided I'd become friends with you before I even saw you. But, I'm not gonna lie, seeing how cute you were _did help_ the decision to become friends."

I scared-sputter.

"What the hell?!"

He barks a laugh and ruffles my hair.

"Kidding, kidding. You're not my type."

The fact that I can't tell whether he's joking or not worries me. I go to fix my hair that he's ruined, and glare at his reflection in the front window.

And what did he mean by _not my type_? I'm everyone's type.

"But, your good-looks aside, you're amazing at guitar. Are you in a band yet?"

I lean my elbow against the side of the window and rest my head on my palm.

"Yeah, me and two friends of mine are trying. We don't have a drummer yet-"

"I'm a drummer! Can I be your drummer?! Please let me be your drummer-"

"Calm down- eyes on the road, dobe!" I yell when we start to swerve, and he forces his attention back on the road. I see him visibly stiffen and bite his lip.

"Sorry. I get excited when I think about bands and stuff."

I can relate, but I keep quiet.

"How long have you been playing?" I force myself not to sound like I care. I'm done getting my hopes up with these damn drummers.

"Eight years."

Okay. This could possibly, slightly work. Maybe.

"…What kind of genre do you prefer to play?"

"I like all kinds, I guess. I really like, um, like- alternative and indie stuff. I like old sixties rock, too."

On the inside I'm screaming like an elementary school girl. I try to keep my stare nonchalant. He's_ perfect_.

Then, it clicks.

"Wait a second, you're Naruto!" I yell, pointing an accusing finger at him. He props an eyebrow.

"Um… yeah, we've already established that..."

"You're Karin's neighbor! The drumming one she was talking about." I feel like my eyes are going to bulge out of my head. I'd forgotten all about that.

She's going to _mutilate_ me when she finds out about this.

"You're friends with Karin?" Naruto asks, his voice wavering in a strange way. It sounds like he's either trying not to laugh or cry. Or both.

"We've known each other since elementary school. She says you teepeed her house," I say, not able to hide my smirk very well.

"God, I did. Multiple times, actually. The girl hates me. Shit, I was a little asshole for doing this- but back in middle school, I asked her out as a joke. I feel terrible about it now- back then I'd honestly just thought of it as a practical joke, but then she took me seriously! I had to break up with her like two minutes after I asked her out."

A laugh accidentally slips from my mouth, and his gaze darts over to me. I pretend not to notice, "That actually explains a lot now. She complained about you the other day for almost twenty minutes."

He laughs and pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

After he composes himself, he starts, "So um… other than Karin's hatred for me… we should practice together some time."

Naruto grins at me, and I hide my smirk.

We drive in comfortable silence for another couple minutes. I feel my good mood start to slip as we get farther from any signs of civilization. I look ahead, and notice we're driving head on into a heavy rain cloud. I frown. We eventually pull onto a side road and into a small, empty parking lot.

"You're not gonna murder me, are you?"

Naruto only waggles his eyebrows at me before he gets out and slams the door in my face. I sigh and unbuckle my seatbelt. I get out to find him searching through the trunk of his car, mindlessly throwing things out of the way in search of whatever it is he's trying to find.

"Ah, here it is…" He grunts as he yanks out a small, portable record player.

"And you just carry that around everywhere?" I ask irritably as he shuts the trunk and locks it.

"Hey now, don't judge. You have no clue how many times this little guy has come in handy."

Naruto begins to lead me up a small path that goes around the side of a hill.

"I'm not exactly in hiking shoes. Or a hiking mood, in fact," I complain just for the sake of complaining, knowing he wouldn't let me go back to the car even if I started convulsing.

"Stop being such a bastard. You should be thankful, I'm saving your damn life," The blond boy says proudly, turning his head a bit to smirk at me.

"How is kidnapping me away from all human civilization and into the wilderness saving my life, exactly?"

I trip on a rock and he laughs. I glare rusty daggers into his stupid head.

"You'll see, young one."

My glare deepens and I _swear_ a vein in my forehead just exploded, "And how old are you, anyways? Because I'm pretty sure_ you're_ the young one in this situation."

He ignores me as we finally make it to the top of the hill, and I can hear water rushing. It's surprisingly relaxing, but I can't stop acting annoyed _now_.

"You're allowed to enjoy yourself, bastard," Naruto mumbles, as if he can read my mind. I feel my face flush and silently curse myself.

"Dobe," I mutter and follow him as he rounds another corner that reveals a small waterfall. It's beautiful.

"I didn't know this was here…" I hesitate behind him to take it all in, and Naruto keeps going ahead of me.

"Most people don't," He shouts so I can hear over the waterfall. I speed walk to catch up with him again. Once I realize we're heading towards the top of the waterfall, I feel my heart rate pick up. I suddenly don't like where this is going. And again, as if he can read my mind, he takes a firm grip of my upper arm and forces me to keep walking next to him, flashing me a mocking smirk as we reach the top.

Shit.

I breath a nervous laugh, "You're funny. You're really, really, funny. I've seen how pretty this place is, we can leave now-"

"Nope. You're not getting out of this one, Uchiha."

He sets his record player on a rock near the river and flips it open. It starts to ring out a song I've never heard before.

"Ever listen to the Black Lips?" Naruto asks me before taking off his shirt and tossing it aside.

I clench my teeth, "Stop trying to change the subject, I'm not _doing_ it."

I stumble backwards when he goes to pull me into the river that leads to the giant, deadly, waterfall of pain.

"I'm not kidding, dobe, you're not getting me to jump."

He laughs, "Oh, that's where you're wrong. Don't be such a baby, you told me you didn't like Crazy Taxi and look what happened!"

"That's an entirely different matter!" I yelp when he yanks me into the freezing water and I cling to him for my damn life. I'm _never_ going to be able to live this down.

"Playing video games or jumping off a waterfall, what's really the difference?"

"_Everything_!"

He grins wickedly and my stomach drops.

I'm too young to die.

"Sasuke, you have to jump. Only one time, but you still have to. If you don't, you'll die."

I blink.

Christ, I've been kidnapped by a fucking crazy person.

"What the hell are you talking about, moron?!"

"I'm not kidding, Sasuke. It's true. If you don't do this right now, you're going to die. It happened last time I brought my friend here." Naruto pries my hands off his arm and I almost lose my balance, "He was being a bastard like you, and refused to jump because of his so called 'fear of heights.' Whatever, anyways, after an hour of his complaining, I brought him back to his house. Just as he was getting out of my car, I reminded him that he left his cell phone in the back seat. Just as he was opening the back door, a car zoomed by _right_ where he was about to walk. He would have got run over by a car!"

"You idiot! He probably would have seen the damn car even if you didn't remind him about his phone," I feel my eye twitch, "And he didn't even die! _That story doesn't even make any fucking sense_!"

He just keeps grinning and takes hold of my arm again, "Oh, it doesn't matter if he ended up alive in the end or not, fact is, this waterfall kills people who don't jump off of it. So on the count of three, you're jumping."

My teeth start chattering and my heart feels like it's going to break through my ribcage.

"You better not-_"_

_"One…" _he starts darkly.

"Naruto!"

And then he pushes me.

The fucking bastard pushes me before he even gets to two.

I fall through the air and land with a huge splash. Goosebumps flash through my entire body. I'm willing to bet that this water is less than -100 degrees. I pop back up to the surface and shake my hair out of my eyes, gasping.

"You _dobe_!" I scream at him, but he doesn't even hear me over his laughter.

"I should have recorded that scream! Jesus Christ, Sasuke!" He lets his head fall back and belts out more laughter, and I flush despite being in fucking ice cold water.

"Shut the fuck up and jump in! Since apparently you'll die if you don't!"

"Huh? Oh, that doesn't count if you've already jumped in before. And why would I want to jump off a waterfall right now? It's _freezing_!"

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! IF YOU DON'T JUMP IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS I'M COMING UP THERE AND BEATING THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU-"

_"Okay, okay!_ I was only joking…" He laughs again steps onto the ledge of the waterfall.

He raises both hands above his head, brings his hands together, then slowly lowers them until he looks like he's praying. I prop an eyebrow and frown, when he suddenly breaks the silence.

"CANNONBALL!" Naruto screams before flipping into the air- his form resembling nothing of a cannonball.

It's a little too late when I realize he'd decided to jump exactly where I'm standing.

_"Oi-" _

He slams into me and we both submerge into the freezing cold water. I accidentally gasp and water goes down my throat. I feel my head pulsing and a scratch on my arm. After what feels like forever, I'm finally yanked up by my arms. I start choking on water as soon as we resurface.

"You-" I cough and shake my head, "You dumb ass!"

He starts laughing like a maniac and pushes his wet hair back.

"I'm sorry, oh my god I'm sorry-" His voice is cracking from laughter and he falls back into the water.

"_How dumb do you have to be to fucking cannonball onto someone_?!"

I swear to god, I've never heard someone laugh so hard in my _life_.

Naruto's loud laughter echos over the river and I rub at the scratch on my arm.

"It's not funny," I mumble, and he laughs even louder. I feel the sides of my mouth quirking up and I force my head to the side. No. I'm not letting him off the hook. That fucking_ hurt_.

His laughter finally starts to die down, "I'm sorry Sasuke, really, I d-didn't mean to do that."

He frowns suddenly before he grabs at my arm.

"Shit, you're bleeding. Did I do that?"

"What else would it have been, dumb ass?" I pull my arm back and rinse the scratch with water. It barely hurt, in fact I hadn't noticed it was bleeding until the dobe pointed it out, but I'm still mad and he deserves to feel guilty. The asshole just fucking _attacked_ me.

"I'm sorry…" He whispers. He looks like he's even more hurt than me. Great, now I'm starting to feel guilty.

Dammit.

"It's fine, dobe. I just wasn't expecting you to fucking _fall on me_."

He's quiet as he watches me wash my arm in the cold water. Small beads of water collect on Naruto's chest from the spray of the waterfall. It suddenly hits me that I'm still wearing all my clothes and don't have any extra.

"Hey, did you bring any-"

"Nope."

I groan and fall back into the water, his laughter hitting my ears before I start to sink.

* * *

I've never been so cold in my life.

And I've been in a handful of cold situations.

I've gone to school football games at night, in shorts and a t-shirt.

I've spent winters in Suigetsu's already freezing basement.

I've gone outside to get the mail in nothing but my un-childish batman boxers while it was raining.

But I've never, I mean never, been as cold as I am in this moment.

Naruto yells something I can't make out from behind me, but my feet wouldn't stop running even if I_ did_ care what he's saying. My teeth chatter loudly as I finally see Naruto's car come into view. The blond had disappeared behind me as I'd bolted down the hill, running at full speed to escape the cold. As I reach the car, I start yanking on the door handle- only to realize it's locked. I feel like I could cry.

_"NARUTO_-_"_

"Would you calm the fuck down?!" Naruto pants from behind me, pointing the keys towards his car and unlocking it as he leans both hands on his knees. I swing the door open and quickly hop inside before slamming it shut again. A shudder jolts through my body and I lean my head against the head rest. Naruto pulls open the door across from me and falls into his seat, out of breath.

"Do you realize…" He pauses to catch his breath and start the car, "That the walk from the waterfall to here is supposed to take at _least_ five minutes? And you made me run all the way back here in less than _one?"_

I crank the heater the first chance I get and ignore him, slumping into the warm seat. I shiver. All I want is a warm blanket. And maybe a ball of fire to land on me.

"It's your fault for pushing me," I grumble and wrap my arms around myself. He rolls his eyes as he starts to back up the car.

"Take your shirt off," He commands simply, turning back onto the main road to Konoha. I blink at him.

"Excuse me."

"Oh- it's to make you _warmer_, bastard." A crimson color is starting to spread along his cheeks. The water from the river made his eyelashes clump into tiny triangles. His eyes focus on the road ahead of us. I look away when I notice I've been staring.

I do as I'm told and start lifting my shirt- _Suigetsu's _shirt- that he's probably going to kill me for ruining- over my head. I'd probably start punching myself in the face if it meant I could be warmer at this point. I realize we must be a strange sight to anyone who happens to look over at Naruto's car, but I can't bring myself to give even half a shit. Naruto was right, this was _way_ warmer. My head falls to the side and my eyes close.

"So, what asinine thing are you going to make me do now?" I ask, my voice was hoarse from all the yelling I'd done at the river.

He takes a little longer than normal to answer, "Since you'd probably kill me if I made you get out of the car again, I was thinking we could go get drive-thru? I know this place that makes the_ best_ ramen."

Oh god, ramen. Hot, boiling, ramen. Holy shit, yes, oh my_ god_.

Apparently the look I was giving him clearly expresses my consent to that idea. Naruto grins.

"Ramen it is…" He chuckles out and makes a lane change. I glance at the clock on my phone, which reads it's only 1:23 p.m. Suigetsu and Karin are probably freaking the fuck out right about now, but I can't bring myself to care. I just want ramen. I don't even like ramen that much, but I can't stop drooling over the thought.

We finally get to the fast-food restaurant and Naruto gives them our orders- telling them to make sure mine is extra hot after I remind him to for the fifth time. As we make it around the bend- which feels like it had taken an eternity to drive around- Naruto fishes for change out of his shorts. I roll my eyes and hand him a five from my wallet, and slump back into my seat. I just want my ramen. I just want my ramen. I just want my _ramen_.

And then, it happens.

Naruto reaches for our two cups, and I grab at mine hungrily and pop open the lid. I feel as though my entire life has been leading up to this very moment. I unwrap my fork and stab at the noodles, and take a huge mouthful.

"Sasuke- you have to let it cool first!"

It feels so _nice_ at first, so I ignore him.

But then.

Then.

Everything changes.

My eyes start to water and I gulp down the food that probably just left permanent burn marks on my tongue. Naruto winces.

"Hot," I hiss and hold the cup away from me.

"Well yeah, you idiot! Did you not see that giant waft of steam that, like, _exploded _as soon as you opened it up?"

"Shut up! I don't eat gross fast-food all the time like you, so I wouldn't know." I mix around the contents of the ramen cup absently as he snorts.

"And how would you know where I eat all the time? Unless you're some kind of stalker…" He uncaps his own ramen and stirs it as we take a road I'm not familiar with.

I ignore his comment and ask where he's taking me. He tells me that we're going to "his house, duh" as though it was obvious. My eye twitches- it seems to be doing that a lot since we met.

"Oh come on, don't pretend like you aren't having fun skipping school," Naruto shoves my shoulder with his free hand as we turn into his and Karin's neighborhood. The sights get more familiar as we drive- I'd come here a few times before with Suigetsu to pick up the red-head for school.

"It hasn't been that bad, I guess…" I tell him quietly, looking anywhere but in his direction. He laughs and pulls into what must be his driveway. I frown when I notice nobody else is home.

"Where is everyone?" I ask as I get out of his car, ramen in hand. It's cool enough for me to start taking small bites around the edges.

Naruto scratches behind his head and fumbles through his keys, "Um… that's the thing, I kind of live by myself. Heh."

I hesitate on my way to the front door, and my breathing hitches.

Oh.

I'm sorry.

He swallows visibly as he unlocks the door. His grin is stiff.

"Home sweet home," Naruto says with a tired smile as he lets us in. He closes the door behind us, and I slurp down some noodles so I have something to do with my hands. I feel awkward. I know that look on his face and I want to smack it right off. He doesn't have to pretend to be okay in front of me. He doesn't _have_ to be _okay_.

"Sorry, it's kind of messy," He says, going to the kitchen that's connected to the living room I'm standing in. The walls of his house are light green, and he has posters and mirrors hanging up all over the walls. A plant that was struggling to survive is perched in one of the windowsills. I frown and pick it up, moving it to the center of Naruto's coffee table in the middle of the room. He looks at me.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"This kind of plant isn't supposed to get too much sunlight. It'll be dead by tomorrow if you leave it up there."

The blond stares at me with an unreadable expression. I feel my chest tightening. I swallow and look at my shoes. I can still feel his gaze on me, and it makes the hair on my arms stand up. I clear my throat.

"So, um… the drums… you have a drum set here?" I ask lamely. I want to smack myself for sounding so flustered. I don't even know_ why_ I'm all flustered.

His stare gradually shifts to a small smile, "Yeah. They're in the garage. But before we do anything, you should get changed. You'll catch a cold if you stay in those wet clothes for too long."

Oh yeah.

I'm still shirtless.

I blink at him.

"Um..."

Naruto grins this lopsided, half-smile that suites him too well and takes out two bowls from the cabinet.

"My room is down the hall to the right. I have a dresser with some extra pants and shirts you can borrow. Here- give me your ramen." He walks over and takes the cup from me- his fingers accidentally grazing against mine- before returning to the kitchen. I stand there dumbly for a moment before my body can move again. I don't even let myself think about how stupid I'm acting, for I fear I might start punching myself. My face heats up and I rub my forehead.

Dammit, Uchiha.

I reach his room and let myself in. There's more posters, and his bed is unmade. Papers are scattered over a desk in the corner. His room smells like… citrus… or some weird, fruity smell. The dresser is across from his bed, and I move to pull open the first drawer. The first thing I notice is the abundance of the color orange. My nose scrunches in distaste. Orange is such an_ awful_ color. I search through the disarray of t-shirts and find an old Ramones wife-beater. I shrug and pull it over my head, and almost shiver at how _good_ it feels to have warm clothes on again. I start to look through the bottom drawer which held his jeans, and grimace when I realize Naruto is apparently the type of guy who wears baggy, over-sized pants that are meant to fall halfway down your body.

Dobe.

I shake my head and start to change into the smallest pair I can find. I pull up the zipper and button them before sitting down on the end of Naruto's bed. I let out a soft sigh as my back collides with warm bed sheets. A smile tugs its way onto my lips.

Today has been one of the best days I've ever had.

My eyes fall shut without my approval, but I'm too tired to care. I let my arm fall over my face and my breathing slows. I feel like I can fall asleep….

"Make yourself comfortable, why don't you." Naruto deadpans from the doorway, and my eyes spring open.

I jolt upwards and off the bed, "Sorry-"

His laughter interrupts me, "It's fine. I'm actually glad you aren't disgusted by this place. I haven't had time to clean lately."

I snort, "Too busy ditching school to clean, huh?"

Naruto turns to me, getting a little too close. I feel his breath against my cheek and I try to control my breathing. I ignore the thoughts and questions that have been piling up in my brain since I first met this boy.

"Something like that, yeah," He mumbles softly. His eyes search my face for a brief moment before he turns around and shuts the drawers I'd opened. I swallow hard and try to clear my head.

This…. shouldn't be happening. Nobody had ever had this effect on me. Nobody else had made my mind go _blank_ just by getting a little too close to me. This boy, though. He's different. He isn't strange. He's just _interesting_. Even now, as he sits beside me on his bed and checks the time on his phone, doing something so completely _normal_, I still can't drag my eyes away.

He's everything I'm not and everything I'll never be.

I'd never walk up to a complete stranger, and tell them that I wanted to be their friend. I'd never jump off a waterfall of my own consent. I'd never ditch school for no reason other than to_ live_ a little.

"Sasuke," Naruto starts absentmindedly, going through his text messages. I feel my throat burn.

Why would someone like him ever want to spend time with someone like me? Why would someone so bright want to talk to someone so dull? He's like a wildfire- he could go anywhere- talk to anyone- touch anyone- be with anyone- but he's right here on this bed next to me, already feeling so comfortable with me that he can say my name in that voice as his arm brushes against mine. He could tell me to go away forever and I would still feel privileged just to know he cared about me, at least for a little while.

"Your ramen is in the kitchen. I put it in a bowl for you," He says.

And I want to grab him and throw him against something and tell him he's better than me, and he should _act_ that way.

"Thank you," I say.


End file.
